Being able to access school cameras in an emergency would allow the police to locate a shooter or intruder more quickly and learn more key information that would help with a rapid response, according to Porter County Sheriff Dave Reynolds.
Keeping K-12 schools safe is a challenging business. School administrators and security personnel face the task of weighing real and perceived threats, and finding effective and cost-efficient ways to address them while maintaining a non-threatening environment.
According to Associate Superintendent Shelia Burton, Dayton Public Schools will increase the number of cameras on all 27 campuses while upgrading to newer video surveillance tech with clearer images.
“I believe the exterior cameras would allow the administration to see anybody entering and exiting any door on the exterior of the buildings,” Superintendent Mike Fournier said.
"All the cameras that we're installing will feed back to the UNM Police Department," UNMPD Security Director Randy Irwin said. These cameras are being installed in busy parts of the campus and around the campus perimeter.
According to Vasquez, the University of California Police Department can request access to cameras operated by other campus entities, but this slows down active incident response times. Allowing UCPD to immediately and freely access video surveillance will provide responding officers with immediate information during an emergency situation.
Before adding the new cameras, there were only four cameras monitoring the district’s schools.
The bus fleet’s current camera system requires video download and doesn’t provide high-definition images, making it difficult to see and hear activity inside and outside of the buses, according to Kelley Kitchen, director of finance for GCS.
Once the new video surveillance system is installed on campuses across the city, police officers will be able to remotely monitor cameras in real-time from their patrol cars.
Federal grants will help improve the security of Massachusetts campuses.